


Syncopation (B-Side)

by undergod



Series: Syncopation LP [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Musicians, POV Jace Wayland, Pining, mundane AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-08-14 15:29:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16495337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undergod/pseuds/undergod
Summary: Jace likes working with Simon, likes the way they don’t make any sense together. Simon’s all about electro pop and driving beats, where Jace is inclined towards live instruments and quiet sincerity. Somehow they find common ground, and Jace can’t imagine making music with anyone else.Even if Simon drives him crazy half the time.—Jace’s side of the storySyncopation (It’s what you do to me).





	1. So it goes

**Author's Note:**

> > Anonymous asked: 
>> 
>> please i will sell my soul for syncopation from jace's perspective
> 
> I love this fic too much not to do a spin-off series. I hope this doesn’t ruin the original. Please enjoy. 

It starts like this:

Jace and Simon sit huddled over Simon’s laptop as Simon replays loops he’s put together in ProTools. They’re sharing the bench in front of the piano; Jace feels hyper-aware of Simon’s body heat and how his breath ghosts over Jace’s cheek when he turns to make a point.

Jace likes working with Simon, likes the way they don’t make any sense together. Simon’s all about electro pop and driving beats, where Jace is inclined towards live instruments and quiet sincerity. Somehow they find common ground, and Jace can’t imagine making music with anyone else.

Even if Simon drives him crazy half the time.

“This song is about _wanting_ ,” Simon insists. “We have to have the drum beat.”

“Yeah, it’s about wanting,” Jace agrees, before he argues, “Thats why we don’t need it. The wanting is more effective when it’s _naked_.”

Simon’s cheeks flush at that. “You’re wrong,” he tells Jace.He pushes to his feet and starts pacing as he thinks through his arguments. “Rhythm is the human condition, you can’t just strip it away like that!”

Jace turns to watch Simon, biting back his rebuttals. He’s not looking at Jace as he paces, not giving Jace a chance to interject. They’ve been going at it over this song intro for the last twenty minutes, and Jace is getting more and more irritated with each new argument that Simon brings up for a dance beat to open this song. It’s not that he has bad ideas—but in this case, he’s just flat out wrong.

“The lyrics are all about wanting so bad you can’t think of anything else. Where the blood rushes to your head, and you can’t hear over the blood pounding in your ears,” Simon continues. “Have you ever wanted anything or anyone that badly?”

 _Yes_ , _I_ _have_ , Jace wants to snap back. That’s how he knows that Simon’s wrong. In fact, he’s feeling it right now as he watches Simon pace the six-foot square room.

Jace has always had a problem with  _want_  whenever he’s in a confined space with Simon. It doesn’t help when Simon steals Jace’s breath by getting excited, his eyes bright and shining with passion when he describes his ideas to Jace. It’s not entirely unreciprocated either, Jace knows. He’s caught Simon’s hot gaze on him sometimes, but Jace has never acted on it for fear of ruining this delicate balance between the two of them.

Right now though, the sound of Jace’s pulsefades from his ears as all his attention narrows to Simon. It’s so obnoxious, the way everything about the other man holds his attention, and all he wants to do is grab Simon by the collar and shut him up.

Without even thinking, Jace is up on his feet, looming over Simon until the shorter man turns and runs straight into him.

Simon stops ranting with an embarrassing squeak.

“God, don’t you ever stop talking?” Jace demands, but he doesn’t wait for an answer before he’s pulling Simon and pressing their lips together.

It’s automatic, the way Simon leans into the kiss. A thrill runs through Jace when he realizes that Simon isn’t pulling away, even when he drags Simon close to him. It’s like a rubber band has snapped, months of stolen glances and tempered desire culminating in this: Simon in his arms, their bodies pressed flush against each other. He lets his instincts guide him, till he has Simon basically in his lap as he grinds up against him, letting Simon know just how into this he is.

Simon gasps and pulls back. “Jace,” he pants as Jace dives for his neck instead. The scent of Simon is all around him, and the way he shudders against Jace is more intoxicating than he’d thought possible. He barely hears Simon continue speaking.

“No,” Simon pants, “We can’t...”

“Why not? You want this as much as I do,” Jace murmurs against his pulse, grinning at the stutter of Simon’s breath. He pushes up with his hips, relishing the small noises Simon makes when their twin hard-ons brush up against each other.

But Simon pulls away again, angling himself so their hips aren’t flush against each other. That’s enough to give Jace pause.

“We’re still in Luke’s store,” Simon protests.

The words hit Jace like ice water. He pulls back a bit and looks Simon in the eye and tries to piece together what Simon’s saying.

For a horrifying second, Jace is afraid he’s crossed some line, that he’s taken something Simon doesn’t want to give him. But no, that’s not the case; Simon had dived into that first kiss with his whole body, and even now as Jace looks in his eyes he can see the hot desire burning there.

The other option, then, is that Simon is ashamed of this thing they’re doing. Jace can see it in Simon’s gaze, this pleading warring with the heat. The look makes something twist in Jace’s gut.

“Can we just go somewhere?” Simon aaks, cutting through Jace’s thoughts. “I just don’t want to get caugh—”

Jace makes a decision, quickly shutting Simon up with a kiss. He’s not going to let Simon talk himself out of this. If this is all Jace gets—one writing-stupor induced hookup with the man he’s been pining over for almost a year now—he’s going to take it.

“You want to go to my place?” he asks huskily.

Simon hastily agrees.

—

They fit together so easily once they’re in Jace’s room, their clothes shed. It hits him like a punch in the gut when he sees Simon beneath him in bed, body pliant under his touch.

Jace works harder than he ever has to please a partner. He pulls every trick he can think of to last longer, to press deeper, to make it so good that this moment is seared in Simon’s memory.

(If this is going to happen only once, he’s going to make goddamn sure that Simon remembers it.)

Afterward, he manages to convince Simon not only to spend the night, but also to share his bed.

(It’s bittersweet, the feeling he gets when Simon crawls under his covers and stays on the far edge. Jace isn’t one for cuddling, but Simon’s always had a way of making Jace want to do things he’s never wanted before. Like their band and their weird electropop sound. Or spontaneously making out on top of a piano—the _sacrilege_.)

Jace spent his entire shower wondering what to say to Simon now. He knows what he wants with Simon, but he’s never known how to ask for it. And besides, Simon made it clear at the practice room that this isn’t going to be a _thing_ —the way he had been so desperate to get somewhere private, had furtively looked around when they were leaving the studio like he afraid they’d be seen leaving together. And it makes sense; Simon is always ragging on him for his supposed trail of hookups and meaningless sex. Hell, all their mutual friends and acquaintances know about Jace’s proclivities. Simon wouldn’t want to associate himself with that.

And sure, maybe Jace has fantasized about more than Simon’s body. Maybe he’s day-dreamed about walking into a room with Simon on his arm, or singing one of the songs he’s written about him. But that’s obviously not going to happen.

So when Simon inevitably brings up the elephant in the room—“Should we talk about this?”—Jace decides to play it cool.

“There’s not much to talk about,” Jace tells him as he turns out the light. “We had sex, it was fun. That’s all there is to it.”

He’s rather proud of just how steady his tone is.He sounds like he’s talking about the weather, not the most mind blowing sex he’s had in recent memory.

There’s a long silence from Simon’s side of the bed. Jace feels a thrum of anticipation roll through him as he waits for a response.

“So nothing changes between us?” Simon hedges.

“Not if you don’t want it to,” Jace says carefully. He wants things to change between them, God knows he does. But the ball is in Simon’s court now. Simon has always been the type to speak his mind; if he has anything to add, he’ll say it.

So he waits.

“Good,” Simon says eventually. “I’m glad we can be chill about this.”

In the dark, Jace can hide the way his breath releases in a disappointed shudder.

“Me too,” Jace croaks.“Now go to sleep, Simon.”


	2. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace and Simon work on their music the morning after their hookup. Simon seems intent on ignoring the elephant in the room. Jace can't think about anything else.

The next morning, Jace wakes up alone. He’s used to it; the last person that spent the night was his old hookup Kaelie, and that was months ago. But then he rolls over in bed and sees the rumpled sheets where Simon had lain the night before, and Jace feels a little twinge in his chest.

He hadn’t really expected Simon to be there when he woke, at least that’s what he tells himself. He’s not even sure if Simon is still in the apartment. Sure, they had made plans to write together, but Simon could just have easily decided that Jace isn’t worth sticking around for.

If Jace doesn’t get up, he can just pretend that Simon’s there outside his room, making coffee in the kitchen while wearing Jace’s clothes, looking for all the world like he belongs there.

Jace rolls out of bed eventually. It’s early still, the morning still grey outside his window. His roommate Magnus would have gotten home an hour ago and is probably getting ready to sleep right now—the man’s schedule is insane—so it doesn’t surprise Jace that he runs almost directly into the other man when he slides open his door.

Magnus is dressed for bed, in his tiger print silk kimono and matching sleep mask perched on his head like a headband. He’s got a tea cup and saucer in his hands, which doesn’t really help the smug air he’s giving off as he looks at Jace with a delicately arched eyebrow.

“If you’re looking for Simon, I saw him writing out in the other room,” Magnus tells him with a nod down the hallway. “I asked him if you two could move out to the balcony. Keep the noise down,” he says, dropping his tone to turn that last phrase into innuendo.

Jace rolls his eyes. “Thanks Magnus. We’ll try to keep it down,” he says. He turns to walk away, but Magnus stops him with a light touch to his shoulder. When Jace turns back, Magnus is looking at him seriously.

“Jace,” Magnus tells him. “You’re a great roommate, my boyfriend’s best friend and brother. But Simon and I go way back, and…” Magnus glances out towards the balcony as if checking to make sure Simon can’t hear before leveling his gaze on Jace again. “Simon’s a sensitive soul,” he stresses, his hand laid firm on Jace’s shoulder. “He feels a lot, and very deeply. You write with him. Of course you know that.”

Jace starts to make a noise in protest, but Magnus digs his fingers into Jace’s shoulder, effectively silencing him.

“I’m not trying to cast any aspersions on you based on your reputation,” Magnus says softly. “I’m just saying… be careful.”

Magnus leaves him with that advice.

—

_(They met at Magnus’ apartment in the first place, only weeks after Jace had moved in. Jace hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. He’d been too busy with orchestral auditions and finding a job for pocket change to worry too much about meeting other people, so Magnus’ housewarming party for him hadn’t been something Jace was looking forward too._

_Jace remembers two things about Simon’s first impression: 1) the fact that he’d worn a graphic superhero t-shirt to Magnus’ party and gotten away with it away with it, and 2) the way he’d mouthed back at Jace’s remark about his shirt by calling him a Captain America look-alike._

_He’d resolved to avoid the man for the rest of the night. He might have never thought of Simon again if he hadn’t passed by the drawing room later and overheard a drunken Simon picking his way through a slow melody on the grand piano there, trying to come up with the words as he went along._

_Everyone else had moved outside to the balcony on the warm summer’s night, and Simon had been the only person in the drawing room. Jace watched, amused, as Simon bent over the piano and worked over the melody and the chords, changing the phrasing every time. Simon would play a chord progression, change it, then change it back again, looking frustrated that whatever music he was hearing in his head was not coming out right on the keys._

_Jace had taken pity on him and joined him at the bench, taking over the keys to flesh out the sound._

_When Simon tells the story now, he always says he fell in love with Jace’s playing in that moment. Jace remembers Simon complaining and nudging Jace’s hands and telling him, “No, the sound should be more of a DUN instead of a DAH.”_

_When Simon insisted they play together again, Jace had been flattered but uninterested. It took two weeks of Simon begging to wear him down, and he’s been digging deeper under Jace’s skin ever since.)_

—

Jace changes and goes to find Simon out on the balcony, already dressed in yesterday's clothes with a coffee mug in hand. He’s sitting on the chaise side of the outdoor patio sectional, eyes focused on his laptop sitting on the table in front of him.

Jace joins him, and they spend the morning working on the song. Simon is more relaxed and agreeable now than he was at Luke’s the night before, so they make good headway on the track. Since they’re sitting outside, they’re working on Simon’s laptop, passing a single pair of oversized producer headphones back and forth.

Jace isn’t a huge fan of making music on a computer—he’s never quite gotten the hang of how these music programs work—but Simon is adept at building the tracks and tweaking the digital instruments to sound interesting and dynamic.

Jace tells him as much. Simon blushes at that, color rising in his cheeks even though he keeps his focus on his laptop screen as he adjusts something on their file.

“This stuff is just the demo stuff anyway,” Simon says, deflecting the praise. “It’ll sound so much better when we get live keys recorded for it.”

Jace sits back and watches Simon work. His dark hair is a bit of a mess, thick tufts parted by his over-sized headphones, and he’s squinting at the screen as he clicks around on the wavelength. There’s a look of stern concentration on his face that unwittingly reminds Jace of the night before, when Simon had gone down on him with a single-minded determination.

Jace wills himself not to think of it even as his dick twitches impatiently at the reminder.

(They’ve been sitting so close all morning, it’s impossible for him not to think about last night. But they’d agreed that things wouldn't change between them, _damnit_ , so Jace has to keep a lid on it.) 

The friction between them bubbles up through the cracks in their conversation, between the accidental brush of their hands as they pass the headphones back and forth. Simon seems intent on ignoring it, and they continue to focus on their work instead of addressing it.

It comes to a head when they’re breaking down the bridge. Simon wants it all to peak with a grandiose show of power—messy, heavily distorted guitar solo and all; if the song is about hopeless love, he says, the bridge should be angry at how unfair the world is. Jace thinks the climax should be raw and needy.

“This song, these words, they’re more powerful when they’re bare,” Jace insists, feeling like a broken record. It’s the same as his argument about the intro last night, but he still stands by them.

“Not this again,” Simon groans with an eye-roll. He leans back in his seat, leans away from Jace, and takes a moment to push his glasses up by the bridge.“You keep saying that, but I know my limits,” he says, sounding exasperated. “Even if you’re right about the song being more meaningful with less instruments, it’s not a good idea to have my voice as the main feature. I’m not a good enough singer to carry that.”

“I disagree,” Jace shoots back. “You just can’t hear it because you haven’t recorded the vocal track yet. Your voice is great all on its own.”

Simon’s startled eyes snap to his. “Y-yeah?” he stutters. He hasn’t stammered around Jace since the early days of their acquaintance when Jace had done his best to try intimidating Simon into leaving him alone.

“Yeah,” Jace answers immediately, stating it as a matter-of-fact. The insecurity is _exhausting_. Jace hates it. Compliments don’t get far with Simon, he’s learned. So he always ends up bargaining instead.

He hardly gives it a thought before he switches tactic and says, “Look man, just try it out. I’ll blow you if you give it a shot.”

Simon goes rigid and Jace regrets his words immediately. A week ago, it would have just been a joke. It’s a joke they’ve made to each other plenty of times. It usually ends there, but it looks like last night changed everything. Instead of laughing, Simon straightens his posture, shoulders squared; Jace hardly dares to breathe.

They’re still looking at each other. Simon’s eyes are inscrutable. They haven’t talked about the elephant in the room yet; Simon probably doesn’t even want to be reminded of it. Jace is halfway certain that Simon is going to just walk out on him right now. This is it. This is where they break.

But then Simon glances down at Jace’s mouth, lingering in consideration. That tension that he’s felt all morning ratchets up by a thousand degrees. When Simon glances back up, his dark eyes are dark, and Jace...

He surges forward; Simon meets him halfway in an open-mouthed kiss, grasping the collar of Jace’s t-shirt in his hands and giving as good as he got. Simon tastes a little like the coffee he’d had earlier, but also of the sweet, almost hazelnut taste that seems uniquely Simon.

“You can’t just _say_ stuff like that,” Simon whines between kisses, even as he leans back on the wicker bench and pulls Jace with him.

“Like what? That I’ll blow you?” he asks, grinning when Simon whimpers into his mouth. “Because I absolutely will.”

Jace presses Simon till he’s lying back against the cushions of the bench. He climbs on top, the wicker creaking under their combined weight. Thank god for the chaise; it lets Simon stretch his legs out in front of them, with enough space for Jace to straddle his legs at the knee. Distantly, he hears Simon’s expensive headphones clatter to the ground, but neither of them move to pick it up.

“No, not the blow job,” Simon huffs. “The other thing you said. About my voice. You know it’s not true.”

"But it _is_ true,” Jace tells him. Looking at Simon’s disbelieving expression, he has the crazy urge to reach forward and touch his face, as if that would help him get his point across to Simon. Instead, he busies his hands with the button of Simon’s pants.

Simon makes a face like he’s sure Jace is just humoring him. He reaches up to pull Jace back down to make out with him, but Jace is on a mission. He gets past Simon’s button and unzips the fly, gratified when he peels back the flaps to reveals how hard he is just from this little bit of foreplay.

He wants to relish in unwrapping Simon—he didn’t get the chance last night—but Simon is impatient, squirming and propping himself up on his elbows to look down at Jace as Jace begins to stroke him through his boxer shorts.

Jace smirks down at him as he hooks his fingers under the band of Simon’s pants and underwear. “It’s a good thing Magnus is a heavy sleeper. Because you’re going to use that voice of yours for something he might not want to hear.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me right now,” Simon groans, but he does lift his hips to help Jace pull down his pants.

“Nope, just delivering on my promise,” Jace informs him smugly. He drags down Simon’s pants, enjoying the way Simon scrambles to kick them aside.

It’s an interesting contrast, Simon being naked from the waist down while Jace is fully dressed in his down to his heavy boots. Simon underneath him looks just as good as he did the night before, his rumpled band shirt lifted to reveal the pale skin above his hip. Jace can’t help the impulse to touch the smooth skin there, enjoying Simon’s warmth beneath his hand.

Jace leans down and laves his tongue from the base of his cock to the tip, then changes his angle and does it again from the other side. Simon whimpers above him, twisting his hips to get himself closer to Jace’s mouth. He draws his legs up and spreads them apart to give Jace more space. Jace acquiesces, closing his mouth over the tip of Simon and swallowing him down.

Simon gasps audibly, moaning when Jace grabs him by either hip and holds him down. When they hooked up the night before, Simon had immediately fallen to his knees and blown Jace’s mind; he’s just trying to return the favor.

Jace makes himself comfortable, stretching out so he’s lying on his stomach between Simon’s legs. The angle makes it easier to take Simon all the way in, to work up his way up and down the shaft and suck. He can tell that Simon likes it from the way Simon is moaning above him, arching into his touch, whispering, “Fuck fuck fuck, _goddamn_ you are hot.”

It drives Jace insane with want, makes him want to strip himself down and fuck Simon here on the couch on the outdoor balcony, Magnus’ glass sliding doors be damned. He’s been trying not to think too hard about it or how he ate Simon out less than twenty-four hours ago or how he’d filled up the hole afterward and the way the tight heat felt so perfect.

He can’t indulge now though. He promised Simon something, and Jace is nothing if not a man of his word. That doesn’t mean he can’t play around.

Experimentally, Jace brings his hand under Simon’s ass and between the cheeks there to brush his thumb against the pucker of Simon’s asshole. Earlier he had wondered whether Simon felt the phantom stretch of his hole around Jace’s cock whenever he twisted in his seat. He’d considered whether or not he would be able to feel it himself.

“Oh!” Simon gasps when Jace pops his thumb into the ring of muscle. It goes in fairly easily and it makes Simon spasm with his whole body, from his head tilting back and his hips arching up to his heels flailing and kicking against Jace’s shoulders.

Jace’s mouth is still full or he’d respond, but he settles for glancing upward at Simon. The other main is looking down at Jace, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. “You can—” Simon starts, then pauses a moment to catch his breath. “You can do that do that again, with your thumb. Just be— _Jesus Christ Jace_ —just be gentle.”

Jace grins around Simon’s cock at the reaction just a little prodding got him. With Simon’s permission, he now pushes his thumb into Simon’s hole a little bit further. Simon goes insane again, and suddenly his babble goes from, _“Oh my God”_ to _“I’m gonna come, I’m gonna—”_

Simon shouts when he comes. Jace heeds the warning, pulling partway back off the dick and grasping at the base with his freehand just in time to feel the pulse of Simon’s orgasm as it spurts into Jace’s waiting mouth. Jace continues sucking, pulling every last squirt from Simon's dick and swallows it.

When he’s taken it all, Jace moves and flops down next to Simon on the couch, enjoying the blissed-out look on his bandmate’s face. Simon looks like his brain has been sucked out through his dick—exactly the kind of look Jace wants from him right now.

Simon turns his head at Jace and gives him a goofy smile that causes something fond to rise in Jace’s chest. “That was incredible,” Simon sighs. “Fuck, I haven’t been blown like that in—well, in ever.”

“My pleasure,” Jace tells him, jokingly giving his lips a lewd, exaggerated lick.

He grins back at Simon as he watches the other main adjusts his glasses, admiring slight sheen of Simon’s skin and the way the late-morning sun highlights the planes of his face. Jace is still crazy turned on and wouldn’t mind if they kept going, but he likes this too—this lazy, satisfied Simon—and doesn’t want to break the moment for anything.

Of course, that’s when Simon’s phone starts vibrating from its spot on the table.

Simon blinks owlishly before a look of panic crosses his face.

“Shit, that’s Clary,” he bursts, bolting upright and lunging for the phone. “I’m supposed to meet her for lunch, and—”

He cuts off as he puts his phone to his ear. “Hey Clary! Yeah, we’re still on. I’m getting ready to go right now…”

He keeps talking as he looks around for his pants and subsequently has trouble putting them on. From the chaise, Jace watches in amusement when Simon manages to get one leg in his pants and has to hop around on one leg while he tries pulling his pants on with one hand, the other holding the phone to his ear. It affords him an eyeful of Simon’s pert ass as he struggles to pull it up.

Simon hangs up on Clary and starts packing his gear to leave, babbling apologies to Jace. “I’m sorry I have to run out, I know we didn’t get to finish the song—”

“Simon,” Jace cuts in. Simon’s jaw clicks shut, and he turns to look at Jace. “It’s alright. I have to get ready for work soon anyway.” Jace moves to stand up, and he catches Simon looking down to his crotch where the outline of his own erection is straining against the confines of his denim jeans.

“You sure you don’t want me to take care of that?” Simon asks. “I can reschedule with Clary…”

Jace waves away the offer. “I’m fine,” Jace insists. “This was about you, not me. Just do me a favor and record test vocals this week so we have something to work around. Try it both ways—your teen angst way, and then my way, aka the correct way to sing this song. You’ll see which one’s better.” Jace winks when he says that, and Simon blushes at little flirtation.

Simon shoulders his laptop bag with a shrug and hesitates a moment before he asks, “Is this going to happen again?”

Jace shrugs stiffly, trying to seem nonchalant about the thought of having sex again. Of course he wants to keep doing this. He could be happy with Simon’s friendship and sex without any complications between them. He thinks that the tension that has always existed between them is a thousand percent more bearable knowing there’s an opportunity to blow off the steam. And, as an added bonus, they were more productive in the last couple hours than any single writing session they’ve had together in recent memory. All in all, Jace thinks it’s a win-win situation.

“I’m game if you are,” Jace says and leaves it at that.

“Okay, ground rules,” Simon tells him. Jace nods for him to continue, and Simon continues while counting them off on his fingers. “One: last night cannot happen again. You realize we got back here at eight and didn’t finish till almost eleven? We lost way too much time because you wanted to show off how long you can last. Which, by the way, impressive, but also I’m sore everywhere and I’m waiting tables at the Dumort tonight. Not ideal.”

Jace begins to smirk at the thought of it, but Simon glares at him.

“So first rule: Time limits. Half hour, max.”

Jace rolls his eyes but nods in agreement as Simon rolls on.

“Two: no hanky panky in public. I know you have that exhibitionist streak…”

“Hey!” Jace exclaims. “I resent that remark.”

Now it’s Simon’s turn to roll his eyes. “You once hooked up with Maia in the alley outside the bar I was playing at. And need I remind you that it was _last night_ that you jumped me at Luke’s music store?”

Jace scowls at the reminder of that. He’s mostly certain that Simon’s over his thing for Maia, but hearing her name from Simon’s lips will always leave a bitter taste. That’s even avoiding the topic of last night, and how desperate Simon had been not to be “caught,” like being with Jace is something to be ashamed of.

“Okay, fine,” he agrees, just to get Simon off the topic. “We can keep meeting here if that’s more convenient. Anything else?”

Simon hesitates, then adds, “We should both get tested. That’s the last one. Do you have anything you want to tack on?”

Jace has to think a moment. Honestly, he’s pretty sure he’s down for anything that Simon wants, but he can’t say that, or Simon will know he has an honest to god crush on him.

He thinks back to the unofficial things he’s done with hookups in the past. He doesn’t really let people stay the night or have breakfast with him the next morning, but that would be inconvenient in this context if Simon’s going to come over to write. And he doesn’t usually do kissing, not the sensual open-mouthed kind of thing, but he’s pretty sure he’s already addicted to Simon’s hazelnut taste.

“Nah, I think we’re all good,” Jace says finally.

Simon looks happy and promises Jace to get those vocal tracks together before their next writing session before he gathers his things and heads out the door with a little wave.

Jace feels exhausted when he’s gone and just falls back into the chaise. He stares up at the clouds in the sky and wonders if this whole thing with Simon is going to blow in his face.

He’ll just have to wait and see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, it's been a while. Sometimes life keeps you busy. Sometimes you need to write some fanfic smut to stay sane. Thanks for coming in and reading this next chapter. Not sure when the next one will be, but it is in the works! Please leave feedback, it's very much appreciated! You can also hit me up still on tumblr. See you later!


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